Expansion Of Consciousness

Consciousness moving on the surface of the body is stimuli, which cause pleasure. When consciousness shrinks, then the sensation of pain and suffering arises. Suffering is the shrinking or contraction of consciousness. When consciousness moves through the body in limited channels, pleasure is experienced. Repeated enjoyment of the stimuli causes inertia and dullness. Often cooks don't enjoy their own food. Listening to the same piece of music loses the charm, people in the sex industry don't enjoy sex. If the stimuli are observed, then consciousness expands and becomes peace. With awareness the stimuli lose their significance; whether they exist or not makes no difference. When the sun is there, then whether the candle is lit or not makes no difference. To realise that all pleasures are just stimuli and that you are more than the stimuli brings freedom. Pain is nothing but consciousness wanting to expand and to become free. Freedom basically is liberation from the craving of the stimuli. Pain is not a permanent state. The natural tendency of consciousness is to expand, to become bliss. Like the natural tendency of water is to flow downward, and the natural tendency of air is not to be under pressure, the natural tendency of consciousness is to expand and to be at peace. Like the person who is an insomniac and has forgotten how to sleep, most of us have forgotten to be at peace and in bliss. Question: What about the pleasure in Satsang? Answer: The pleasure of Satsang takes you towards expansion. - Sri Sri || Jai Guru Dev ||

SPLASH!!

Guruji held up a pistachio nut and asked every one. "What is this?" Everybody said, "Pistachio." Guruji held up a pistachio nut without the shell and asked every one, "What is this?" Everybody said, "Pistachio." Guruji then held up the shell and asked everyone, "What is this?" Every body said, "Shell."Guruji said, "As the nut with or without the shell is pistachio, similarly spirit with or without the body is God. But just as the shell without the nut is not pistachio, the body without spirit is not God. Spirit is certainly God because it is present everywhere. The body is certainly not God because it cannot be present everywhere." When someone asks you, "Are you God?" Who is the question addressed to? As it is only the spirit that answers, you have no choice but to say, "Yes!" There was a blissful glee on everyoneÒ³ faces.God is within the body and God embodies the whole universe. Those who have eyes will see. (When asked, "Are you God?"- This is the best answer.) || Jai Guru Dev ||

BLESSINGS!!!

Make your home God's home and there will be light, love and abundance. Make your body God's abode and there will be peace and bliss. Feel your mind as a toy of God and you'll watch and enjoy all its games. See this world as play and as a display of God Himself and you will repose in the Non-Dual Self. Blessing comes to you in many forms. If you are generous, blessing comes to you as abundance. If you are hardworking, blessing comes to you as happiness. If you are lazy, blessing comes to you as hard work! (Laughter) If you are pleasure loving, blessing comes to you as dispassion. If you are dispassionate, blessing comes to you as knowledge of the Self. Sri Sri

DIKSHA

DIKSHA Initiation is called "Diksha". In Sanskrit "Di" means intellect. "Ksha" means the horizon r the end. "Diksha" means transcending the intellect. Education is called "Shiksha", the horizon of discipline - total discipline. Discipline is needed for education. "Diksha" is needed for meditation. A Teacher gives "Shiksha". A Guru gives "Diksha". A Guru takes you beyond intellect to the Realm of Being. It is a journey from the Head to the Heart. Blossoming beyond the intellect is "Diksha". If you do not go beyond the intellect, you will not smile, you will not laugh. Once "Diksha" happens, you are happy, blissful and contented; and thirst for knowledge is quenched. Totality of Discipline is "Shiksha" Totality of Intelligence is "Diksha" JAl GURU DEV

Freedom And Discipline

FREEDOM AND DISCIPLINE Freedom and discipline are opposites and complementary. The purpose of defense is to protect freedom. But is there freedom in defense? Do soldiers have freedom? No, they are totally bound, not even allowed to put the right foot down when told the left foot. Their steps are measured and they are unable even to walk with a natural rhythm. There is total lack of freedom in defense. That which has absolutely no freedom is protecting the freedom of the country! So it is with the police; they protect the freedom of the individual. But are they free? Discipline protects freedom. They both go hand in hand. Understand this and go ahead in life. You have some restrictions and it is this that allows you freedom. You can choose to focus either on freedom or discipline, and this makes you happy or unhappy. Freedom without discipline is like a country without a defense. Fences should be fences; a fence cannot be built all over the property. If your fence is all over, how can you build on the property? That state of high absolute freedom is too difficult; we need to be very practical. Yes, there is a state of unlimited bliss, the freedom Advaita talks about. The Advaita Knowledge has been totally misused or used according to one's own fancies and conveniences. There must be awareness in the mind, love in the heart, and righteousness in action. Love and fear are two possibilities that put you on track. The Jewish religion put fear as the main thing so that life could improve. Nature induces fear at a certain age in a child. When a child is very young, it gets 100 percent time and love of the mother. The child has no fear. As the child grows more independent it becomes cautious. Nature brings in an iota of fear. With freedom, the child starts walking carefully. Fear of losing freedom also brings defense. The purpose of defense is to eliminate fear. On this path Knowledge is your Freedom and also your Defense.

Balance And Discipline

BALANCE AND DISCIPLINE People who are free, regret that they don't have discipline. They keep promising that they will become disciplined. People who are disciplined look for the end. (Discipline is not an end in itself, it is a means.) Look at the people who have no discipline; they are miserable. Freedom without discipline is absolute misery. Discipline without freedom is suffocating. Orderliness is monotonous and chaos is stressful. We have to make the discipline free and the freedom disciplined. People who are in company all the time, they look for the comforts of solitude. People who are in solitude, feel so lonely and want to be in company. People who are in a cold place want to be in a warm place. People who are in a warm place love something cool. This is the dilemma of life: Everyone is looking for perfect balance. Perfect balance is like a razor's edge. It can only be found in the self. There is no road to this town and there are no steps to this house. How do you get in? Figure it all out. Jai Gurudev.

GURU IS A CIRCUIT BREAKER!!!

*Guru is a circuit breaker* A city without streets, a king without treasure, a merchant without business and a life without a guru are all considered the same. Why the emphasis on guru? Why do you need a guru? Life sometimes seems very complicated. There is pleasure, pain, happiness, suffering, generosity, greed, passion and dispassion. When our life is full of such opposing values, our mind sometimes becomes unable to handle these complications and just breaks down. It is then that you need wisdom to guide you through troubled times. Guru is that wisdom. You might have noticed you give great advice when you are not involved in a situation but the same is not true when you are in trouble. This is because wisdom dawns when you are out of the mess. Guru is one who is out of the mess. He watches the chaos, amidst the chaos. Guru is like a circuit breaker. When you cannot handle life, your guru comes and saves so that you remain sane and balanced. If there is a compelling desire that bothers you, your guru is there to offer solace. You offer all your desires and pain to your guru. Having a guru means being able to relax and smile all the time, walk with confidence, be fearless and have a vision. That is wisdom. *Guru is a tattva* -- an element, a quality inside you. It is not limited to a body or form. Guru comes in your life in spite of your refusing or being rebellious. The guru principle is so vital in life. There is an element of the guru in every human being. That wisdom in each has to be invoked, awakened. When this element is awakened, misery in life disappears. In our consciousness, wisdom comes to life when guru tattva comes to life. When we have no desires of our own, then the guru tattva dawns in our life. Wake up and see that our life is changing every moment and feel grateful for whatever you have received. *Guru Purnima* is to review your growth. This review will give you encouragement. If you think you haven't grown enough on the spiritual path in the past few years, then you have not utilised the knowledge. If you feel you are stuck somewhere, then the realisation that you are stuck is also growth. That is why we celebrate Guru Purnima. It is the day when the devotee arises in full gratitude and feels grateful for the great knowledge he has received from the Master. It is time to review how much knowledge you have ingrained in your life and how you are growing in knowledge. This may bring about a realisation for scope of improvement, which in turn will bring humility in you. Be grateful for the way this knowledge has transformed you. Just think how you could have been without this. Gratitude and humility together make bloom a genuine prayer inside you On Guru Purnima, remember all gurus of the past. When your life is full, you get a feeling of gratitude then you start with the guru and end up adoring everything in life. On Guru Purnima the devotee wakes up in full gratitude. The devotee becomes like an ocean moving in itself. Guru Purnima is a time to celebrate and rise in devotion and gratitude. JAI GURUDEV!!

What You Are Not Here For

VIVEK When you follow fun, misery follows you . . . When you follow Knowledge, fun follows you. * * * * If you say that you have no one in this world, then you are disowning me. And if you disown me then I cannot do anything for you. What is Vivek? Vivek means knowing that everything is changing. Time and again you have to awaken to this -- that the world, the people, our body, our emotions, are constantly changing. When you experience sorrow, understand that Vivek has been overshadowed. Question: What am I here for? Answer: Find out what you are not here for. 1. You are not here to blame. 2. You are not here to cry. 3. You are not here to sleep. 4. You are not here to show off. 5. You are not here to fight. 6. You are not here to be miserable. 7. You are not here to be angry. 8. You are not here to worry. - Sri Sri Jai Guru Dev.